In July and August 2016, Dr. James E. Snead, California State University-Northridge, invited me to join a research project on the Island of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia. Located 6500 miles west of Los Angeles, Yap covers only 34 square miles and is the administrative and chiefly center of the Western Caroline Islands chain that stretches 800 miles to the east. Before full-scale European contact in 1885, Yap was a highly stratified paramount chiefdom with more than 120 villages within 12 districts inhabited by as many as 50,000 people. This highly regulated society built their homes, community and ceremonial structures, waterworks, and inter- and intra-village paths of stone. Origins, village and settlement patterns, and an economic system based on stone money have been investigated by past archaeologists, but James’ project is the first to systematically study a sample of the hundreds of kilometers of stone paths found throughout the island. My talk will introduce Yap, its people and culture, and our investigation, which took us from the coastal tidal flats to the upland savannahs of this exotic and far flung place.
The Friends of Archaeology and the Office of Archaeological Studies are pleased to announce the Brown Bag Talks of 2017. Talks will take place at the Center for New Mexico Archaeology at 12:00 noon on selected Tuesdays (unless otherwise noted in the descriptions below) in the CNMA library. Seating is limited. Admission is free.
Center for New Mexico Archaeology (7 Old Cochiti Rd.) is located off of Caja del Rio Rd, across from Challenge New Mexico on the way to the Animal Shelter and the Santa Fe Municipal Golf Course. Take 599 to South Meadows Road, continue through the traffic circle west along the Frontage Road to Caja del Rio Road. CNMA is on the left-hand side of the road and is the large building with white sail-like structures on the roof. The building is not well-signed.
